By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Governor Chris Christie is sending S-387/A-1363 back to the state legislature. Had he signed the bill, it would have permitted two or more school board candidates to circulate join petition and bracket together.
Advocates say the legislation would bring much-needed voter attention to these important but oft-overlooked local contests.
The Governor is sympathetic to the problem but doesn’t necessarily agree with the remedy.
“I support responsible election reform that advances the critically important goal of increasing voter knowledge of candidates and issues,” Christie declared in his official conditional veto message. “However, I am concerned that this bill may risk the integrity of our school elections by politicizing them.”
Click here to read the full conditional veto message.
Where do you come down in this debate, Save Jerseyans? I’m curious to hear your take…
The idea of non-political elections is a fantasy that has been perpetuated on voters since the “good government” movement of Governor Woodrow Wilson. Can anyone look at the history of so-called “non-partisan” municipal elections in NJ and legitimately make the claim that partisan concerns did not enter into those contests? School Board elections are already partisan, and groups of candidates already campaign under common banners. Christie should have addressed that reality instead of continuing to give credence to a progressive ideal that cannot be met.